Urban Development in Pakistan under CPEC

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 CPEC, Centre of Excellence, China Pakistan, Pak-china friendship, COE CPEC, China Pakistan Economic CorridorROADMAP-URBAN DEVELOPMENT DIVISION AT CoE CPEC

Introduction

Pakistan is one of the fastest urbanizing countries in South Asia with a population of 207,774,520 of which 63.6% is rural and 36.4% is urban (GOP, 2017). The United Nations Population Division estimates that, by 2025, nearly half of the country’s population will live in urban areas with major chunk of population living in the mega cities. Rapid urbanization creates opportunities and challenges. Cities around the world are home to the creation of employment, environment friendly technological and infrastructural advancements, and a high economic productivity. However, mismanagement and poor planning of the cities & urbanization process may result in low economic activity, environmental vulnerability, poor service delivery, and socially exclusive societies.

The current and future CPEC projects, aiming at creating sustainability and economic stability, will alter the urban dynamics and the spatial pattern of our cities. Consequently the CPEC portfolio is expected to create opportunities and challenges for urban areas in Pakistan.

Urban Development (UD) Division at Centre of Excellence for CPEC envisions to combat the challenges and harness the opportunities that will be created by the urbanization under CPEC. UD Division is committed to serve as a benchmark of excellence in research and provide policy guidelines to the relevant stakeholders thus enabling socially cohesive, environment friendly, economically sustainable and vibrant urban communities.

Framework

 CPEC, Centre of Excellence, China Pakistan, Pak-china friendship, COE CPEC, China Pakistan Economic Corridor 

Research Goals

At Centre of Excellence for CPEC, this thematic area highlights the urban development that would occur under CPEC, addresses the issues and challenges in the relevant domains, and comes up with relevant policy based guidance. Among an array of important topics, the current focus is on five key policy research areas:

  • Sustainability of SEZs through Urbanization
  • Mass Transit Projects under CPEC
  • Urban Governance – Policies and Implementation
  • City Development Concepts & Strategies
  • CPEC Environment / Climate Change related Challenges and Opportunities

The significant part of the research and development is being accomplished through in-house as well as collaborative activities with research centers, universities, think tanks, and relevant organizations.

Research Areas

  • Considerations for sustainable urban development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under CPEC
  • Estimation of GHG emissions for energy projects under CPEC
  • Assessing environmental compliance for projects under CPEC
  • Master planning of Gawadar smart port city
  • Policy guidelines for sustainability (feeder routes, non-fare revenue generation, transit oriented development, etc.) of mass transit projects under CPEC
  • Exploring green financial mechanisms (GCF, GEF, CDM) for CPEC portfolio
  • Identification and management of environmental hotspots along CPEC corridor
  • Mapping of urban sprawl along CPEC corridor
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